A Distant Memory
by Echo0112358
Summary: Seven years ago, Midoriya Izuku vanished, leaving not a single clue behind. No one ever came forward during the search, almost like he disappeared off the face of the Earth. But Touma Nishimura knows; in fact; he knows better than anyone...
1. Anemone - Forsaken

_One…_

_ Two…_

_ Three…_

_ Breathe… _

_ Four…_

His body racked with another fit of coughs as he tried once more to push himself up off the ground. Blood trailed from his lips onto the unforgiving pavement, barely visible under the shadow of night. Loose gravel bit into his already skinned knees and palms; fingers now tightly curling into fists. The boy felt nothing but fear as he tried desperately to assess the situation, his thoughts jumbled and incoherent. A paralyzing, all-encompassing terror rooted deep within the soul took hold; though it had never truly left now had it, just sitting there, festering beneath the surface like a disease.

His power thrummed just at the edges of his consciousness; present, yet unattainable. Maybe that was the most terrifying aspect of it all, his inability to protect himself.

Tentatively he glanced down at the impossibly large red stain blossoming across his coat. _Three broken ribs. Most likely a collapsed lung. Concussion. Puncture wound to the abdomen. Damn it. Think. Think… You're bloody smarter than this, you should have known better…_

_ Five… _

_ Six…_

After what seemed like an eternity the dreaded sound of those shoes returned, echoing throughout the expanse. A low hum, akin to a whistle, to accompany the ever approaching footfalls. Each like another nail being driven into the metaphorical coffin. _Shit. This can't be happening once more. I won't go through this again. But I got myself into this, my own stupidity is at fault. Where is everyone? Oh wait, I never did call for back up now did I?_

_ Seven…_

Digression to hyperventilation.

_Why can't I breathe? Oh yeah my lung._

_ I'm not thinking straight. Whyyyyyyyy?_

_ Eight…_

The first droplets of rain began to fall, immense and heavy all around him. The walking has now halted. Just feet from the kid. With the last bit of resolve he still carried he pushed back his fears and shakily looked up. In the dark all but a silhouette could be glimpsed, round eyes seemingly glowing in the pitch blackness. _Evil eyes. Eyes like mine. _

One more attempt was made to get up, again unsuccessful, resulting in him falling limply into the muddy puddle near his left side. The injured side. He had to clench his jaw to hold back the scream that never quite escaped his mouth. Chest heaving through the effort, he raised his head once more to catch a glimpse through a blurred lens. The boy never got the chance. Faster than his eye could comprehend, the figure was there; an unseen hand fisted in his tangled mess of hair. His roots yelled in protest, and the muscles of his neck grew taught as he was forced to look at the other's face. The face he tried to suppress, to forget. The low and unhinged laugh that he knew all too well.

_ Such a violent magenta shade, almost purple…_

_ What is it?_

_ Nine…_

"To be honest, I was so hoping to meet again in different circumstances, you do understand that right?" That was a question that wasn't meant to be answered, and only met with a loud hacking in return. The man's voice was like nails on a chalkboard, incessant. The illuminating light returned when he felt something deadly sharp press just below his chin.

"You do remember what I taught you the last time, don't you? I am certain your friend does."

_Everyone… God, I'm so sorry… Please…_

The razor pressure on his neck increased, nearly halting all air intake. Even his last flames of anger and hatred could not muster the strength in him to attack once more. It was over. Simple as that. As soon as the thought came, it departed. What followed was anything but quick. The blade slowly began cut a path across his throat, slitting a gagged line through the soft tissue of the esophagus. This new pain eclipsed all that had come before it. He could feel his energy slowly ebbing with the tide of blood spilling down his shirt, and the coppery build up along his tongue. The hand released its fistful of hair, and the head attached fell unceremoniously to the ground; the crack that resulted was deafening.

Try as he might he could not formulate words past the incoherent gurgling.

_Please…_

"I have missed you Midoriya Izuku. **We are going to have so much fun."**

_Ten…_


	2. Gladiolus - Remembrance

Touma Nishimura was not having a great day.

He had woken up an hour late, slept through all of his multiple alarms, and somehow managed to tear down his shower curtain in his frantic dash to get ready; it would have to wait till later. After last night he should have expected such a late start; what with the sharp aches arching up and down his back, it was understandable. Hauling cargo is hard work. So it made it a little awkward trying to wash up when you feel like utter crap, and you can only face in one direction to keep the water from spilling out all over the floor. It was a rush job to say the least.

Not even bothering to check his appearance, the boy threw on the only set of clothes that were remotely clean. And while he internally despised the hideous black and blue pinstriped sweater, he would never admit it out loud since his brother clearly intended it to be a thoughtful gift. Intended being the key word there. Touma didn't want to come off as inconsiderate, and his sibling would most likely see the unavoidable gesture as a complement, somehow. Granted, the selection available to him from his singular suit case was minimal. The trip they had taken to Tokyo was entirely unscheduled so he had little time to prepare. At the very least, the hotel was nice. _Focus, you've got places to be and people to see, as everyone always said. Don't let your thoughts get away from you. _

_Shit. It's already almost 7:30. _

_ I was supposed to meet Teacher at 8:30. That's not enough time…_

Even though he didn't attend a formal school, that doesn't mean that the educating stopped even when on a 'trip'. _No rest for the wicked_. Ignoring the provisions strewn around the dining table, he reached the threshold of the fairly sizable suite with no small measure of stress. Grabbing the bag of supplies and slinging it over his shoulder he exited the room; checking that the lock was secure, and depositing the room key in his back pocket.

It wasn't worth the precious time to look into the adjoined room to see if his companion had left to take care of her days work. She was to uptight and high strung to ever be late for anything. Trying (and failing) to prevent himself from breaking out into a full on run to the elevator, he forcefully pressed the button that led down to ground level. Bypassing the reception desk in the lobby and heading straight out into the crisp April air. Being careful not to bump into people and to avoid getting distracted by all the various quirks of those milling about, Touma followed the directions displayed on his phone to the nearest station. It took him the whole of ten minutes to check the track schedules, and to reach his destination. He had just barely made it in time to board and purchase a ticket for the last train coming before 12.

_I might just make it. Oh god, I don't know what'll happen if I'm not there in time._

(Internal Shiver)….

Once he finally took his seat he was able to deflate just a tiny bit. After a few seconds of heavy breathing he pulled out a tightly wrapped protein bar from his bag, and proceeded with his makeshift breakfast. Steadily nibbling on the neat square, the boy scrolled through the daily news feeds and public outlets. Nothing too interesting, just the typical archetypal hero stories. He used to be really into heroes when he was younger (not that he wasn't still young) and he still was, but the overcast of his impending lesson eclipsed all else.

It had taken a moment for him to really appreciate the weather, which by the way resulted in the clearest skies he's seen in a while. Or maybe it was just his imagination. Soon the conversations of those around him began to filter in as he once again gained full focus. All of the ambient sounds and smells tickled the back of his consciousness; these days the boy simply ignored all the pesky ques. The car he had entered was filled mostly with droll looking business men, and several high school students judging by their uniforms. It made sense. Seeing as it was April, the new school year and term had just begun. Touma had been thinking about applying to an actual school instead of continuing his career with his homeschooling, but had thought the better of it. _Not with the attention it could draw, and what with it being… STOP… stop that line of thought, now is not the time to be thinking about that. _

_ Ah yes, cake, cats, sunsets. Safe topics. Yeah…_

Another long period of time passed, and by the end of it his hands were twitching with anxiety. He didn't like sitting out in public for this long, and his irrational paranoia was beginning to rear its ugly head again. It wasn't that he had a fear of crowds, but more of a fear of people watching. Ever since… Well while he didn't look to abnormal in a world full of superpowers and mutations, one particular blemish never failed to catch a person's eye. Sometimes people are just oblivious. So to try to drown out such metaphorical distractions he focused drumming patterns on his legs, watching his fingers tap to their own beat.

Finally, the cold automated voice announced that they were approaching the platform to Yokohama. His stop. Ignoring the occasional and unsubtle glances in his direction, the kid exited the train. Looking back at his text messages from yesterday, Touma found the exact meeting place in a linked address. The GPS system took around the outskirts of downtown to avoid any larger areas of foot traffic. To be honest, it was an impressive sight to behold, with the high structures and bright lights, but it couldn't compare to metropolitan Tokyo.

After that long stretch of walking, his back muscles were tingling in little spasms of discomfort once more. As he approached the entrance to the Sankeien Gardens he couldn't help but admire the unadulterated beauty of the area. Spring was in full swing, and dozens of trees sporting cherry blossoms that contrasted with the blue hue of the day greeted him as he passed over a shaded wooden bridge. The slow and rhythmic trickle of the stream bellow calmed his unsteady nerves. Traditional buildings could be spotted over the tree line.

Readjusting his bag, Touma checked the time, the display reading out 8:27. He got to breathe a sigh of relief when that flashing reassurance came up. Navigating around the few tourists dotted about the park, he finally caught a glimpse of a startlingly violet head of hair. Sitting on a bench looking out over a small body of water, legs crossed under her practical sundress was his teacher. She heard him approaching before he could announce himself. She glanced up from the book she was reading, and leveled him with a calm stare over the rims of her glasses. He returned it with a nervous smile stretched tentatively across his lips.

"H-hello Miss Kamishiro, I'm so sorry that I wasn't here early," He rambled.

She gave him a silent once over, her eyes lingering on the pack strung over his shoulders, then down to her watch. "It's no problem Nishi, you seem to have made it right on time," she replied, "and how many times must I tell you to call me Rize? There is no need to be so formal."

"O-oh, o-okay Miss Kam-, I mean Rize, it's just a force of habit." Hell, as much as he liked her as a person, she was still terrifying when she was in 'teacher mode', so the anticipation for that side of her to show itself seemed to draw out a slight stutter on his part. She let an amused grin flash in his direction, closing her book and gracefully striding away; clearly she expected for him to follow right behind. The woman didn't even spare a glance back in Touma's vicinity.

Quickly spinning around to proceed after her, a brief gust of cool wind distracted him. Looking up, he saw the breeze carrying an array of pale pink buds, floating on an invisible sea. Absentmindedly he tracked the path of one of the wayward flowers, he watched as it landed on the reflective surface of the water. Walking up to the cerulean pond, he reached out to pick it up without barely causing a ripple. Unintentionally, it gave him a chance to observe his visage. Ugly shirt aside. His gaze traveled up his neck and along the jagged white scar that cut diagonally across the edge of his mouth; then tracing the second one that ran around his cheekbone, and up through his left eyebrow.

This brought him to his mirror image's eyes, verdant as the grassiest of fields. He observed the way his now shoulder length wild and curly hair stood up in random directions, an ocean of black strands highlighted by green.

Touma held his own gaze for what felt like an eternity.

Thinking…

His moment was only disturbed by Rize calling out to him to see if he was coming. Tearing his gaze way from the other him, he trailed after her for what was probably going to be another day of grueling training.

Yeah.

Touma Nishimura was definitely not having a good day.

**Hey guys! I was having some writers block with my other story, and wanted to write out this new tale that had been rattling around in my brain. Still debating on whether or not I want to make this into a full blown story. If any of you liked it, or have any comments, leave a review and tell me what you thing. See ya!**

**-Echo**


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